Dakota Fanning is a teenager. Get used to it. From the tips of her neat navy-lacquered toes to the top of her flowing, corn-silky hair, Hollywood's reigning child star is no longer a child. She is 14 and a sophomore at a Los Angeles high school after being taught by her tutor until eighth grade. She's a varsity cheerleader and attended cheer camp this past summer. She's a lover of chic fashions, including the black Zac Posen frock worn at the world premiere of her latest movie, The Secret Life of Bees.

Did she or didn't she mean it? That's the question at the heart of l'affaire Miley Cyrus, a firestorm lit last week by a series of Vanity Fair photographs featuring the billion-dollar-baby flashing some skin.

Art-house films are getting a strong dose of celebrity at this year's Sundance Festival. Among those with films playing in the festival's Premieres category are U2, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Jack Black, Mischa Barton, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Quentin Tarantino, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Perry.

They grow up so fast. Forget about Charlotte's Web and Harry Potter. Dakota Fanning and Daniel Radcliffe are making waves with appearances that quash their innocent Hollywood cred. Fanning, who shouldered criticism at last week's Sundance Film Festival for a rape scene in her film Hounddog, appears in ads as the new face of edgy designer Marc Jacobs.

One thing seems certain: There was no Little Miss Sunshine in the pack at the Sundance Film Festival, which wrapped Sunday. Sunshine came to Sundance last year and took in nearly $60 million in theaters. It goes to the Oscars Feb. 25 as a best-picture contender.

The harsh complaints over Dakota Fanning's drama Hounddog may have caused her more distress than the rape scene that triggered the uproar. A day after the film's debut at the Sundance Film Festival here, the controversy was beginning to calm as many of the worst fears about the movie were proved wrong.

At the Sundance Film Festival, taboos are shattered in films that can be both jarring and touching. In years past, the festival offered the ultra-dirty joke-tellers of The Aristocrats, the girl hedonists of Thirteen and the music-loving pimp of Hustle & Flow.

Hollywood heads for the hills this time each year for the mountaintop Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Famous actors like Anthony Hopkins, Kate Beckinsale and Dakota Fanning are here to show off risky passion projects and unknown actors and filmmakers are jockeying for their big breaks. Meanwhile, many studio execs are forgoing cushy office life for all-day movie marathons in search of potential hits. USA TODAY's Anthony Breznican is at the 10 day festival, which kicked off Thursday night. Breznican takes you behind the scenes documenting the stars, movies and parties.